Biology

Espeon is a quadruped, mammalian Pokémon with slender legs and dainty paws. It is covered in fine, lilac fur. This velvety fur is sensitive for Espeon to sense minute shifts in the air, thus allowing it to predict the weather. Its ears are large, and it has purple eyes with white pupils. There are tufts of fur near its eyes, and a small, red gem embedded in its forehead. The gem boosts the psychic powers that it gained to protect its Trainer from harm. It also has a thin, forked tail that quivers when it predicts its opponent's moves. Espeon is rare in the wilderness, and is more commonly found in urban areas.

Origin

Espeon appears to be based on legend of the nekomata, also known as bake-neko, which are mysterious, intelligent, fork-tailed goblin cats. It additionally resembles a carbuncle, a Latin-American mythological beast which had a jewel on its forehead. It also has traits of caracals, sphynx cats, lynxes, and due to its large ears, fennec foxes.

Name origin

Espeon is a combination of ESP (a branch of psychic abilities) and eon (an immeasurably long period of time, possibly referring to how long evolution takes naturally). Eon is a suffix all Eeveeevolutions share and was Eevee's English prototype name.

Eifie is a combination of エスパー esupaa (ESPer, a person with psychic powers) and フィール fiiru (feel), referring to its extraordinary sensory abilities. It is very similar to Eevee, in both writing and sound (イーブイ/エーフィ).